My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself
by The Equestria Goth
Summary: In this story, The Equestria Games are coming up and Neo has been asked to perform for everypony at the games, but when Neo begins to lose his pride, it will be up to Twilight to help him realize what's most important and help him get his pride back.
1. Chapter 1 Stage Fright

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 1

Stage Fright

There was a time when Neo got Fluttershy to perform with him on stage, it took a lot of encouraging to get Fluttershy to perform on stage but Neo finally got her to do it. It started one morning when Fluttershy woke up to a bright and sunny day, she was a good mood and she greeted all the animals that came to see her. Fluttershy felt so happy, she felt like singing, so she sang a song to her animal friends for a few minutes, after she sang to them, her animal friends clapped for her, Fluttershy thanked them for their kind support, but what she didn't realize was that her friends had been watching her sing.

Fluttershy looked over and saw her 5 pony friends staring at her with surprised looks on their faces, however Neo wasn't with them. Fluttershy felt embarrassed, she said, "Oh... You... um... you didn't hear me... um..." Pinkie Pie cut her off and said, "Singing in the most beautiful voice ever?" Rainbow Dash said, "Uh, yeah, we did!" Fluttershy felt so nervous and embarrassed, she actually cringed. The ponies kept giving her compliments about her singing, but each compliment made Fluttershy feel nervous, she knew where they were going with these compliments, Rarity even said that she was surprised that Fluttershy has never performed with Neo on stage, Fluttershy was having a fundraiser for the Ponyville Pet Center tomorrow and Neo had volunteered to perform on stage to help with the fundraiser. Rarity thought that Fluttershy's voice was so beautiful and stunning, she thought that Fluttershy should perform on stage along with Neo for the event.

Rarity persuaded Fluttershy to come perform with Neo on stage, but Fluttershy refused, she mentioned that she loves seeing Neo perform on stage, but she doesn't want to perform with him, Twilight asked her why not. Fluttershy said, "Well, you see... I... I have... um... I... I have.." Rainbow Dash came to her and said, "Spit it out." Fluttershy said, "I have... stage fright." Pinkie Pie gasped, hid behind a bush and said, "Is it contagious?" Twilight said, "Stage fright isn't a disease, Pinkie. It just means that Fluttershy is scared to perform in front of everypony." Fluttershy smiled and said, " I'm very thankful that Neo will be singing at the Pet Center fundraiser, and I'm really looking forward to his performance, but I'll be watching safely from the audience." Rarity said in disappointment, "Well... I think it's a terrible waste of an exquisite talent, but I understand that you're not comfortable." Fluttershy felt better and she said, "Thank you." Then a little bunny tapped Fluttershy and pointed to the town, then Fluttershy said, "Oh! Angel's right. We'd better get going. There's a lot of work to do before tomorrow's event."

So the ponies went into town and began setting up for the fundraiser for the Ponyville Pet Center, various ponies were helping set up and Neo was on stage practicing for his performance, Neo appeared on stage wearing his Gothic clothes, white makeup and a long black wig, he danced and practiced his song ("Skin O' My Teeth" by Megadeth), ponies gathered around to watch him practice, Spike was in the front of them, he danced along to the song as Neo practiced his song. When Neo finished the song, the ponies clapped and Spike clapped as well. Spike told Neo how awesome he thought he was, Fluttershy came over and said that she thought he was amazing. Neo thanked them for their support, it meant a lot to him and he was happy to have volunteered for the fundraiser.

Then Rarity came over to Neo and told him that he should rest his voice so he will be ready to perform the next day. Fluttershy said to Neo with a grateful smile, "Oh Neo, you're going to make the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser so special, thank you so much for helping me help the animals." The bunny Angel hopped into Neo's arms and snuggled against him, Fluttershy thought it was so cute, she said, "Even Angel is grateful to you for helping with the fundraiser." Neo said, "Of course Fluttershy, I'm always happy to help my dearest friends, you girls mean everything to me." Rarity and Fluttershy were touched by Neo's comment, and then Neo went back to the Golden Oak Library to take it easy for the rest of the day.

The next morning, Rarity and Fluttershy wanted to rehearse one more time before the performance, they waited for him for almost an hour, when Neo finally showed up, Rarity asked him why he was late, at first Neo didn't answer her, but then Rarity realized something was wrong, then Neo tried to talk and he sounded horrible, his voice was scratchy and he sounded like he wasn't going to able to perform for the fundraiser.

End of chapter 1, chapter 2 coming soon.


	2. Chapter 2 Fluttershy the Singer

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 2

Fluttershy the Singer

Neo came to meet Fluttershy and Rarity for one more rehearsal for his performance for the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser, but he appeared to have lost his voice. His voice sounded scratchy and bad, and they knew that he wouldn't be able to perform in his condition, Rarity asked him what happened to his voice and Neo explained that he was testing out a fog machine that he was going to use during his performance, while testing the machine, it blew out a huge fog, when the fog went around the stage, Neo inhaled some of it and some of the fog got into his lungs, and because of that, he had temporarily lost his voice.

Rarity and Fluttershy were disappointed, but they both agreed that it wasn't Neo's fault. Rarity decided that because of Neo's condition, he will not be able perform, Fluttershy said, "Wait, what? No! You have to perform! Otherwise, the fundraiser will be a disaster!" Rarity said, "But Neo can't perform with that scratchy voice, and it's too late to find somepony to replace him, I'm afraid I don't have a remedy for this situation." Fluttershy was so disappointed, she started to cry a little, but then Neo said in a scratchy voice, "Wait, I have an idea." Rarity and Fluttershy focused their attention on Neo, Neo said to the girls, "I think I can still perform." Rarity said, "But you can't perform with that scratchy voice." Neo said, "I don't have to, I can still dance on stage, but I can have somepony singing for me offstage." Rarity said, "What are you talking about darling?" Neo turned to Fluttershy and said, "Fluttershy, sweetie, would you be willing to sing for me?" Fluttershy gasped and said, "On no, I just can't do that, I just can't bring myself to sing on stage in front of everypony." Rarity said, "And how can she sing for you, she can't sound like you." Neo said to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, you don't understand, you don't have to sing in front of everypony, you could sing for me offstage." Fluttershy was confused, she said, "What do you mean, I don't understand."

Neo explained to her that Neo would be onstage dancing and performing, and she would be backstage singing for him and Neo will lip sync and make it seem like he is singing. Fluttershy understood it better, but then she asked him how she could sing for him because she can't sound like him, but then Neo told her that he has this voice changer device that she can use, it's a small chip that you can easily stick onto your throat like a band aid and it will easily change your voice, Fluttershy and Rarity were amazed by the information, Fluttershy wasn't sure about this, she still felt nervous to perform, but Rarity thought it was a good plan, she said to Fluttershy, "Please Fluttershy, there is no one else available, you must do this, for the animals." Rarity used her magic to float the bunny Angel up to Fluttershy, Angel had tears in his eyes, Fluttershy knew she had to do this, she would do anything for the animals, Fluttershy finally said, "Okay, I'll do it." Neo went backstage and set up a computer, he put the voice changer chip into the computer and copied a sample of his voice into the chip from one of his songs, as Neo worked on the chip, Fluttershy studied the song lyrics, then Neo took out the chip and it was ready to go. When it was almost time to perform, Neo put the chip onto Fluttershy's throat, it stuck onto her throat like a band aid, Fluttershy said, "Hello." And she sounded just like Neo, she couldn't believe it, she knew this was going to work, then Neo set up a microphone backstage for Fluttershy, Neo told Fluttershy to sing into the microphone to make her voice louder, Neo told her not to be nervous and try to have fun, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as a thank you for helping him out with his singing, which made her blush.

Then it was time for the performance, this was the very first time that Neo would be lip syncing, there was a crowd of ponies gathered around the stage, Neo's friends and Spike were up at the very front of the crowd, then a white male pegasus sat down in the front of the crowd as well, before the show started, Rarity came out onstage and said, "Good evening, citizens of Ponyville! I want to thank you all for coming out tonight and generously supporting the Ponyville Pet Center! Thanks to your kindness, pets are finding loving homes, and we're sure to meet our fundraising goal!" Twilight wondered where Fluttershy was, but Applejack said she was probably hiding since she hates the spotlight, then Rarity said, "So, with no further ado, please welcome The Equestria Goth."

Rarity quickly got offstage and Neo appeared onstage, Neo played the music with his mind and when he started lip syncing, Fluttershy sang for Neo, and she sounded exactly like Neo. Neo danced to the song and everypony watched with delight as he performed ("Skin O' My Teeth" by Megadeth), when the song was over, everypony clapped and cheered for Neo, Neo's friends cheered the loudest and Fluttershy had a fantastic time singing for Neo, she had so much fun that she would be willing to do it again. When Neo came out backstage, Fluttershy came with him and Rarity came to congratulate them, she thought they both did an excellent job. Then the white male pegasus that saw the performance approached them, he said to Neo, "That was quite a performance Mr. Anderson." The pegasus had a small filly with him, he asked Neo if he could perform for his daughter at her birthday party tomorrow, the filly was hoping he would say yes, she was a big fan of him, but Rarity thought it was way too last minute. Fluttershy didn't want to disappoint the sweet little filly, not wanting Neo to speak because his voice was still scratchy, Rarity said that Neo will be happy to perform for his filly, which made the filly very happy, and Neo was willing to do it as well along with Fluttershy singing for him.

So the next day, Neo performed at the filly's birthday party ("Lollipop" by Mika), and once again Fluttershy hid somewhere to sing for him since Neo still didn't have his voice. After that performance, the Mayor Mare asked Neo if he could perform for her at her ribbon cutting ceremony the next day, Fluttershy urged Neo to do it because she didn't want to disappoint the mayor, so Rarity spoke for Neo and said that he would be happy to do it. After his performance at the mayor's ribbon cutting ceremony, the Spa ponies asked Neo to sing for customers at the spa center, Neo agreed and after that, Miss Cheerilee asked Neo to perform for her class, Neo agreed, each time, Fluttershy hid somewhere and sang for Neo while he just lip synced.

Soon after, Neo's voice was finally back and he was able to sing again, Rarity and Fluttershy were so happy for him, but Neo had another performance to do, he was asked to perform at Sugarcube Corner and that performance was to start in just a few minutes. Fluttershy was still wearing her voice changing chip on her throat so she still sounded just like Neo when she talked, even though Neo had his voice back, she still wanted to sing for him... one more time. Rarity asked Neo if it would be okay for Fluttershy to sing for him one more time and he didn't mind at all. Ponies gathered inside Sugarcube Corner and waited for Neo to perform, Neo's friends as always sat in front of the crowd, Fluttershy stood backstage with a microphone stand for her to sing into, then Neo appeared and began performing, Fluttershy sang as Neo lip synced, as he performed, Fluttershy began getting carried away, she danced and flew around backstage. But suddenly, she bumped into the curtain and the curtain behind Neo fell down, then the ponies could see Fluttershy singing backstage. Neo stopped performing when they saw Fluttershy, she stared in shock at the ponies staring at her, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Spike couldn't believe Fluttershy had been backstage this whole time, they said, "Fluttershy?"

The ponies still cheered for her and Neo, but Fluttershy was so embarrassed and in shock, she hid her face behind her tail and she flew out of Sugarcube Corner crying. Neo ran out as well calling her name, Neo's friends ran after him, they wanted to know what was going on. Neo kept running after Fluttershy and the rest of the mane 6 ran after Neo, Applejack shouted, "Neo, come back here." But he kept on running. Then Rainbow Dash caught up to him and she stopped him. Then the ponies came to Neo, Applejack said, "Okay Neo, you got some 'splainin' to do, what in tarnation is going on?" Neo said, "But I have to make sure Fluttershy is okay." Twilight said, "We'll do that in a second, but right now, tell us what's going on, we'll understand." Neo was nervous, but Twiight said it will be okay.

Neo explained that he had lost his voice a few days ago and at the time, wasn't able to perform for the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser, but he had the idea to get Fluttershy to sing for him while Neo lip synced on stage, and to make Fluttershy sound like him, he had her wear a voice changer chip on her throat, and that's what they had been doing at the last few performances, but after Neo got his voice back, he had decided to let Fluttershy sing for him one more time just because she wanted to. The ponies listened very carefully to Neo's story and they understood, Rarity mentioned that she was the only one who knew about it. Twilight told Neo to go home to the library and take it easy and they would check on Fluttershy. The ponies went to her cottage and Neo stood where he was, he thought about what he could do to make Fluttershy feel better.

The ponies came to Fluttershy's cottage, Twilight gently knocked, but got no answer, then they went inside and Fluttershy came out of her bathroom with a towel around her, She had taken off the chip that made her sound like Neo and she now sounded like herself again. Pinkie Pie said to Fluttershy, "That was totally unbelievable! I mean, the curtain came up and there you were, singing in front of everypony! And you know, I don't think anypony was jealous, 'cause there certainly wasn't an angry mob! But it must have been horrible standing there on stage, all eyes glued directly on you! It's like you were living your own personal worst nightmare!" Fluttershy cried and said, "It was." And she ran out of her cottage crying, the ponies all glared at Pinkie Pie, then they all ran out after Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie shouted, "You were great." Fluttershy kept running and crying, Rainbow Dash flew by her and said, "You totally blew my mind." Fluttershy ran away from her, Applejack appeared in front her and said, "Incredible." Fluttershy didn't want to hear their compliments, she felt so ashamed, she went up on a roof of a house, Pinkie Pie came up there and said to her, "Though, no offense... you kind of sounded like a dude." Fluttershy kept crying and she zoomed off, Pinkie Pie shouted, "Uh, a great-sounding dude!"

Then Fluttershy stopped where she was, she looked back at her friends and said, "Well, thank you all. I'm glad you enjoyed it." The ponies felt happy for a second, but then she said, "Because I'm never going to sing in front of anypony ever again." And she ran off again, The ponies gasped and ran after her, Pinkie Pie shouted, "Are you kidding me?" As they ran, Rarity said, "Can we please stop running?" Fluttershy finally stopped at the stage where Neo had performed for the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser, the ponies caught up to her, then Rarity said, "I just don't understand why, Fluttershy. After all, you're the one that wanted Neo to sing for every silly thing that was requested of us." Fluttershy said, "You mean, you knew I really wanted to perform?" Rarity said, "Of course I knew!" Rarity said, "Well despite all her babbling, Pinkie Pie was right about one thing, when that curtain fell, and everypony saw you singing, you lived your worst nightmare! Was it really that bad?" Fluttershy said, "Yes." The ponies asked her what was so bad about it, and she said it was everything, the applause, the praise, the screaming from the ponies and everything.

Then Neo came over to Fluttershy, the ponies were surprised to see him since they thought he was at the library. Neo approached Fluttershy and said, "Fluttershy, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you at my performance when everypony saw that you had been singing for me." Fluttershy said, "It's okay Neo, I was still happy to do it, and you know what, I think I may want to try performing on stage." Neo said, "Well you're in luck Fluttershy, I'm doing another performance tomorrow and I need a backup dancer, and I would really appreciate it if you would be my backup dancer." Fluttershy thought about it for a second, then she remembered he put all his time and energy in performing for her fundraiser for the pet center, she smiled and said, "Okay, I'll do it." Then Neo gave Fluttershy a hug and said she was a wonderful, talented pony. Fluttershy hugged him back, appreciating his sweet comment, blushing as she hugged him, the ponies just awed at the sweet moment and were so happy that Fluttershy will actually perform on stage with Neo.

And so the next day, a crowd of ponies gathered at the stage, Neo's friends sat in front of the crowd as usual, Neo appeared on stage after a fog went around the stage, he was wearing his Gothic outfit and his white makeup, he started singing a Heavy Metal song ("Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie), as Neo performed, Sweetie Belle and Spike came out on stage, they were all wearing Gothic makeup to go along with the show, then during the song, Fluttershy came out on stage also wearing Gothic makeup, Fluttershy did her very best in the show and she was enjoying every second of the performance, when the song was over, everypony cheered, they actually liked seeing other ponies onstage and not just Neo by himself. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash came up on the stage to see Fluttershy, they said they thought she was excellent, even Neo thought she was great. They were all so proud of her, Twilight asked her how she felt, Fluttershy said she felt surprisingly okay. Rarity was happy to hear that, because she asked if she would like to keep performing along with Neo, she said, "Oh no... I couldn't do that."

At first the ponies were disappointed, they thought Fluttershy had gotten over her stage fright, but then she said, "I'll get there someday. But for now... baby steps, everypony. Baby steps." Then Fluttershy went backstage and wrote a letter to Princess Celestia about what she had just learned, she wrote in her letter:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Sometimes, being afraid can stop you from doing something that you love, but hiding behind these fears means you're only hiding from your true self. It's much better to face those fears so you can shine and be the best pony you can possibly be.

End of chapter 2, chapter 3 coming soon.


	3. Chapter 3 Cloudsurfing

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 3

Cloudsurfing

A few days later after Neo's performance with Fluttershy, sometime during the afternoon, Pinkie Pie was working at Sugarcube Corner, while she was working, she saw a flyer about the upcoming Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire. Pinkie Pie got so excited when she saw that, she immediately bounced out of Sugarcube Corner happily, she wanted to tell her friends about what she heard in case they haven't already found out. Pinkie Pie was always excited about the Equestria Games, and she could hardly wait to go watch the games.

Eventually Pinkie Pie found her friends and told them, "The Equestria Games is coming up, the Equestria Games is coming up, oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh." Her friends were excited to hear about the Equestria Games as well, however Neo was not with them, Pinkie Pie asked where he was and Twilight said she had not seen Neo all day, they decided to go and look for him. Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew around the sky to look for him, while they were looking, they looked over and saw a group of clouds in the sky just right across from Cloudsdale, they thought that looked kind of weird, but then they looked up over at the clouds and to their surprise, they saw Neo riding on a surfboard and he was surfing on the clouds like an ocean.

Neo played a song with his mind as he surfed on the clouds, ("Out of Limits" by The Ventures), Twilight and Rainbow Dash watched with amazement as Neo surfed on the clouds. Twilight and Rainbow Dash quickly flew down to get their friends, they quickly found them and told them what they saw, they were very surprised and they wanted to see too. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike went over to where the group of clouds were and from where they were, they could see Neo surfing on the clouds, the mane 6 and Spike watched with delight as they watched Neo surf on the clouds. Neo finally grabbed his surfboard and flew back down to the ground where he was quickly greeted by his animal friends. They were very impressed by what they saw, even Rainbow Dash was impressed. She gave him a hug and told him how she loved seeing him surf on the clouds, of course Neo didn't know they had been watching him, he felt a little embarrassed but they told him not to feel embarrassed, they enjoyed watching him surf on the clouds and they thought it was amazing. Feeling better about himself, Neo gave his friends a group hug and they all surrounded him with hugs.

After they hugged, Twilight told Neo all about the upcoming Equestria Games, of course Neo didn't know what that was and she explained that it was an event that takes in the Crystal Empire where various ponies from different cities around Equestria come to compete and it is the biggest sporting event ever to take place in Equestria, Neo understood it now, to him it is an event that is similar to the Olympic Games or the Super Bowl, Neo mentioned the Olympic Games to his friends and said it is an event back on Earth that is similar to the Equestria Games, the ponies were happy to know that the world where Neo came from had events similar to the event they have in Equestria.

Twilight mentioned that the Equestria Games would be starting in the next 2 days and they will all go together to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, they all agreed and they all went back to the Golden Oak Library to have a sleepover, they planned to spend the night together and get on the Friendship Express tomorrow morning together to get to the Crystal Empire, they could hardly wait to get there and they were all looking forward to the upcoming Equestria Games.

End of chapter 3, chapter 4 coming soon.


	4. Chapter 4 Neo The Brave and Mighty

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 4

Neo The Brave and Mighty

The next morning, Neo and his friends got on the Friendship Express on their way to the Crystal Empire, they were looking forward to seeing the Equestria Games, during the ride to the empire, there were various ponies on the train that were going to compete in the Equestria Games, Rainbow Dash said a few words of inspiration to them, keeping their spirits high, Ponyville was competing against the Wonderbolts in the game, so Rainbow Dash wanted to keep their spirits high, Rainbow Dash was a big fan of the Wonderbolts, but she had to cheer for Ponyville. During the train ride, Neo played a song with his mind ("Media Control" by The Casualties), his friends listened to the music and they liked it, even though it sounded a little strange.

About 15 minutes later, the train arrived at the Crystal Empire, as ponies were getting off the train, Spike was loading everypony's gear onto a cart, as Neo got off the train, the Cutie Mark Crusaders came over to see him. They told him that at the Equestria Games, they will be carrying the Ponyville flag across the field, Applebloom was feeling nervous about carrying the flag across the field, but Neo told her not to worry, he told her to just do her best and before she knows it, it will be all over. Applebloom felt better and she thanked him for the advice. Neo gave each of the crusaders a kiss on the head and said he will see them later, they all blushed after he kissed their heads and they said goodbye to him and happily trotted off.

Right when Neo was about to walk off, 2 crystal pony royal guards came over to him, one of the guards said, "Neo Anderson." The other guard said, "Could you please come with us?" Neo had to obey the guards so he immediately walked with them, they started taking him towards the Crystal Palace. Neo was wondering why the guards were taking him there, as they approached the palace, Princess Cadence and Twilight were standing outside of the castle, the guards walked Neo over to Cadence and Twilight, they stopped when they approached Cadence and Twilight. As they approached Cadence and Neo, the guards bowed at the 2 princesses, but one of the guards accidentally tripped Neo, when Neo fell, Twilight said, "Neo, are you alright?" The guards helped him get back up on his feet and one of the guards said, "A thousand pardons, O Great and Honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty." Neo was surprised that they called him that, he said, "What now?" Princess Cadence smiled and said to the guards, "Thanks for bringing Neo to us." Neo turned around for a second, then Princess Cadence gently put her hoof around him and said, "It's okay Neo, we'll have our hoofponies go back for your bags." She gently moved him towards the palace as her way of asking him to come inside the castle with them. So Neo followed Princess Cadence and Twilight into the Crystal Palace, Neo wasn't sure what was going on, but he kept following them.

They took him to a nice room with a big couch and there was a crystal pony inside the room. Princess Cadence told Neo to have a seat on the couch, make himself comfortable and the crystal pony in the room will get him anything he needs. Right next to the couch was a table with wine glasses on it next to a big bottle of red wine. The crystal pony poured a glass for Neo and Neo sat on the couch and picked up the glass of wine, Neo politely thanked the crystal pony for pouring him the glass of wine and she smiled at him. As Neo drank his wine, another crystal pony came into the room carrying a big leaf, the crystal pony started waving the leaf over him, keeping him cool and comfortable. Neo drank the wine and he kindly asked the crystal pony to pour him another glass, she poured him another glass and he politely thanked her.

Neo said, "So the ponies here see me as some kind of hero?" Twilight said, "Last time you were here, you got the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadance in time to save this entire empire from destruction!" Princess Cadence said, "You are known throughout my empire as "Great and Honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty." Twilight said, "Isn't that awesome? You're a big shot here Neo." Twilight walked outside onto the balcony, Neo went out there with her, she pointed down and said, "See that, that's you." Down by the castle was the statue of Neo holding the crystal heart, 3 crystal ponies were down by the statue, admiring it. Neo loved seeing the sites of crystal ponies admiring the statue of him, then Princess Cadence came out onto the balcony and said, "This is why we all hope you do us the honor of performing for everypony at the Equestria Games, you will be the first human in the history of the Equestria Games to do so." Neo said, "I would be honored to Cadence." Princess Cadence giggled and she gave him a kiss on his cheek, Neo blushed bright red after she kissed his cheek and Twilight giggled at his blushing.

Princess Cadence also mentioned that she wants Spike to light the torch during the Equestria Games opening ceremony, Twilight had to go get Spike since he was with her friends so she left the room and said she would come back later. Neo politely asked the 2 crystal ponies to leave so he could have some privacy, Princess Cadence left the room as well and she reminded Neo that if he needs anything, her crystal ponies will attend him. Neo appreciated everything the ponies were doing for him, they were treating him like a king, and it was the nicest thing he ever experienced.

While he was alone in the room, Neo danced and sang a Heavy Metal song, ("Blood and Fire" (Out of the Ashes Mix) by Type O Negative), Neo danced around his room as he sang his song, after he sang his song, Neo took a small device out of his pocket, he pushed a button on the device and the device became a TV set with a video game machine connected to it. Neo turned on the TV and played a video game (SNES Super Star Wars), as he played his game, Twilight and Spike came into the room and saw him playing his game. Twilight and Spike sat down next to him and watched him play, they were fascinated by the game and thought he was really good at it. When night fell, Neo sat on a bed in the room, he was a little nervous about performing at the Equestria Games tomorrow, but he was looking forward to it as well, he was hoping to put on his best performance yet for everypony at the games and he wanted to make himself proud.

End of chapter 4, chapter 5 coming soon.


	5. Chapter 5 The Games Begin

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 5

The Games Begin

The next morning was the day for the Equestria Games to begin, 100's of ponies came to a stadium that was located somewhere inside the Crystal Empire, the mane 6 except Twilight were sitting somewhere in the crowd around the stadium, right next to them was Chucky, they had decided to bring him to the Equestria Games as well. Neo and Spike were on their way to the stadium, they had been told to report to a pony by the name of Ms. Harshwhinny, before the games started, Shining Armor was down in the field wearing armor, he said to the athletic and flag carrying teams, "Places for the procession, everypony! Two minutes!" Over in the crowd, Pinkie Pie was very excited, she could hardly wait for the games to begin. Inside the stadium, Neo and Spike met Ms. Harshwhinny, she was a serious looking pony who appeared to have no sense of humor whatsoever, she had an orange coat, a yellow mane and her cutie mark was a trophy. She gave them brief instructions on what they were supposed to do during the games.

Meanwhile, Twilight was coming to the stadium, she came out to a row where the princesses were all sitting, each princess were sitting on a throne, each with their own cutie mark, on the row under the princesses were other significant members of Equestrian society that had already been seated, right next to Princess Celestia's throne was a purple throne that had Twilight's cutie mark on it, Princess Celestia gestured Twilight to have a seat and she sat on the throne next to the other 3 princesses, Princess Cadence waved over to Twilight and she waved back at her.

Neo and Spike were walking towards the field with Ms. Harshwhinny, as they walked, Ms. Harshwhinny said to both of them, "And you two are quite certain you both also understand exactly what you're supposed to do?" Spike said, "I stand where you tell me until you give me the signal, and then I walk over and light the torch." Ms. Harshwhinny looked at Neo waiting for him to respond, Neo said, "After Spike lights the torch, I begin the games by playing my music while the athletes begin playing." Ms. Harshwhinny was satisfied with the answers and she said, "Mm. Couldn't be simpler." Then Neo, Spike and Ms. Harshwhinny came out to the field, there was a gigantic crowd of ponies watching them and waiting for the games to start, Spike felt very nervous seeing the entire crowd of ponies, he couldn't believe how many ponies were watching them. Spike was too nervous to keep moving, but Ms. Harshwhinny said, "Mr. the Dragon, are you coming?" Neo had to pick up Spike to get him out there, then Shining Armor said to the crowd, "Now, please welcome the delegation from Ponyville!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders came out to the field carrying the Ponyville flag, as they carried the flag out to the field, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shouted, "Ponyville forever, Yay!" Neo's friends were watching them from the crowd and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash thought they were doing a very good job. Out on the field was a gigantic torch with a ladder up beside it, it was the torch that Spike was to light to begin the games. Spike was still nervous, Ms. Harshwhinny stomped her hoof, which was the signal for Spike to light the torch, Spike didn't notice since he was too appalled by the crowd of ponies watching them. Ms Harshwhinny said, "I'm giving you the signal now! Mr. the Dragon!" Spike approached the ladder and started climbing up to the torch, as he climbed the ladder, Spike told himself to stay calm and he counted to 10. Then Spike got to the top, he took a deep breath and tried to light the torch, but he couldn't get his fire breath to work, Spike tried a couple more times, but it didn't work. Everypony was wondering why he was taking so long to light the torch, the princesses just stared at what was going on, Princess Cadence was very concerned, she said, "What's wrong?" Spike kept trying to light the torch, but his anxiety of all the ponies watching him was causing his fire breath not to work, Twilight said to herself, "Equestria, we have a problem."

Spike kept trying to get his fire breath to work, Neo was getting very worried about him. Ms. Harshwhinny said to Spike, "Mr. the Dragon! Would you light the torch already?" Spike said, "I don't know what it is, but I just don't have the stuff today! Did you bring a match?" Ms. Harshwhinny said, "You're a fire-breathing dragon." Spike said, "How about some cough drops?" Ms. Harshwhinny got annoyed, then Spike said, "Never mind, I'll keep trying." Spike kept trying to light the torch but his fire breath still wouldn't work, ponies in the crowd were either confused or worried, Neo's friends were very worried and were wondering why Spike was taking so long to light the torch, Princess Cadence got worried, she said, "Somepony go down and help him."

Then Neo had an idea, he began to climb the ladder, Ms. Harshwhinny said, "What do you think you're doing Mr. Anderson?" Neo said, "I have something that will help Spike light the torch." When Neo reached Spike, he took out a white bottle and he said to Spike, "Here Spike, drink this, this will get your fire breath going." Spike took the bottle and said, "What is it?" Neo said, "Just drink it, it will help, but just drink a little bit." Spike trusted Neo, so Spike drank a mouthful of the liquid. After he drank it, Spike felt his tummy rumble for a second, Spike said, "What's happening?" Neo said, "Just wait for it." Suddenly, Spike belched a huge flame at the torch, strong enough to light the torch. The torch was finally lit and Spike felt better, everypony cheered when the torch was lit, Spike and Neo climbed down the ladder, Ms. Harshwhinny was surprised how Neo got Spike to light the torch, but at least it was finally lit, Ms. Harshwhinny said, "Better late than never." Shining Armor shouted, "Let the games begin!"

Neo made a wrestling sound bell with his mind and he said to the crowd, "Mares and gentlecolts, welcome to the mane event." Imitating Michael Buffer, he made another wrestling bell sound and he shouted, "Let's get ready to rumble!" And Neo began playing a Jock Jams song with his mind ("Get Ready 4 This" by 2 Unlimited), as Neo played his music, pegasus ponies began flying out onto the field, then athletes began playing their games. During the game, a portal opened onto the field and some of Neo's Mortal Kombat warriors came out onto the field, they danced for the crowd to Neo's music, after Neo played his song, he played other Jock Jams songs for the crowd and the athletes ("Gonna Make You Sweat" (Everypony dance now) by C&C Music Factory, "Strike It Up" by Black Box, "Whoomp, There It Is" by Tag Team, "I Like to Move It Move It" by Reel 2 Real, "Tootsie Roll" by 69 Boyz, "It Takes Two" by Rob Base, "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic, "YMCA" by The Village People, "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited, "The Power" by Snap, "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter).

The Mortal Kombat warriors danced to the songs as Neo performed the music, the athletes were playing their games while Neo performed, everypony watched with delight as the athletes played and Neo performed, Neo's friends loved the performance and so did the princesses, Neo performed "The Power" in honor of the alicorn princesses and they really liked that song. In between each song, Mortal Kombat warriors Mileens, Kitana and Jade acted like cheerleaders and chanted cheers for Ponyville, some pony cheerleaders also cheered for Ponyville as well, all of Neo's Jock Jams songs kept the athlete's spirits high and inspired them to keep playing the games. Rainbow Dash really loved the YMCA song and Princess Luna was enjoying every second of Neo's performance, she just loved seeing the young boy she loved so much singing for everypony, seeing him perform in the Equestria Games made her enjoy the games even more.

When the games were almost over, there was to be one more challenge, a huge wrestling ring appeared in the field, and there was going to be a Mortal Kombat match with Neo against his brother Malachi. Neo and his brother Malachi entered the ring, a voice shouted, "Round 1... FIGHT!" Neo and Malachi began fighting, Neo easily won the first round, then the voice said, "Neo wins... Round 2... FIGHT!" They kept fighting, but this time, Malachi won the 2nd round, the voice said, "Malachi wins... Round 3... FIGHT!" The 2 brothers continued fighting, Neo's friends were cheering for him, supporting him, but Malachi was winning again, Neo was down with only one more hit and Malachi would win. Twilight didn't want Neo to embarrass himself in front of 100's of ponies in the Equestria Games, so she secretly cast a spell that would temporarily make Neo stronger and it increased his health. Then Neo got up and he beat his brother, the voice shouted, "FINISH HIM!" And Neo finished off Malachi with a friendship. The princesses were so proud of Neo for finishing off his brother with a friendship instead of a fatality, Twilight was really proud him for doing that.

And then to finish off the games for today, Neo performed one more song for the crowd and athletes ("Let's Get Ready To Rumble Remix"), as Neo performed the song, the Mortal Kombat warriors danced around the field and the ponies watched the performance with delight. When Neo finished the song, everypony cheered for him and the athletes, Neo's friends were so happy and so proud, they couldn't wait to talk to Neo and tell him how wonderful they thought he was. Neo felt good about himself that he had won, but he was confused about how he won, he was pretty sure that Malachi was going to beat him, as ponies were exiting the stadium, Neo went to go find his friends, but Twilight was going to have to tell him that she was the reason he won the Mortal Kombat challenge, and she wasn't sure how he was going to take it.

End of chapter 5, chapter 6 coming soon.


	6. Chapter 6 Twilight's Confession

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 6

Twilight's Confession

The opening ceremony and the Equestria Games had ended for now and there was to be another game tomorrow, ponies were exiting the stadium and everypony was talking about either Neo or the games. The mane 6 had met up with each other outside the stadium, Spike and Chucky were with them as well. The Cutie Mark Crusaders went over to see them. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were very proud of them carrying the Ponyville flag across the field.

Rarity said to Sweetie Belle, "You're my little superstar, you were fabulous." Applejack said to Applebloom, "Made me sit up proud like a cornstalk in August!" Rainbow Dash said to Scootaloo, "Ya done good squirt." Twilight said, "You three really were wonderful. But does anypony know what was going on with Spike?" Applejack said, "He sure seemed to be having a tough time of it out there." Rarity said, "He put things right in time, though, thanks to Neo." Twilight said, "He sure did, I wonder what that stuff was that he had Spike drink, that had to have been what got him to light the torch." Rainbow Dash said, "We'll ask Neo when we see him, by the way, he was so awesome during his performance." Rarity said, "He was fabulous, and those songs were just stunning." Applejack said, "He made this the best Equestria Games ever." Rainbow Dash said, "But Neo sure had some trouble during the Mortal Kombat match, for the first time ever having one of those at the games, I was pretty sure Malachi was going to win. Rarity said, "Dear, I thought Neo was going to lose, but he got back up and won, I wonder how he did it." Twilight said, " Actually, he won because of me. I didn't want him to be embarrassed, so I cast a secret spell that gave him more strength and healed him a little so he could win."

The ponies were surprised about that, Rarity said, "Oh, dear. Have you told him?" Twilight said, "No, I haven't had a chance to see him, but he might have figured it out on his own." Applejack said, "You gotta tell him, just in case." Twilight said, "I know. I'm just afraid of how he'll take it. I know what pride he takes in a job well done, especially when it's a performance or a Mortal Kombat fight." Rainbow Dash said, "Psst, here he comes now! Act casual!" The ponies saw Neo coming towards them and he looked kind of confused, Rainbow Dash quickly put on a pair of sunglasses and went Neo approached the ponies, she said, "Sup?" Twilight saw how confused Neo looked, she said to him, "Neo, is everything okay?" Neo said, "I guess. I don't know. The weirdest thing happened down there." Twilight said, "Yeah, about that, I..." Neo cut her off and said, "Don't worry about it Twilight, my brother and I put up a good fight, and he did his best, he's a very good warrior." Twilight said, "Oh, thank Celestia, I was afraid you might be upset." Neo said, "What for, we put on a good fight for everypony."

Spike came up to Neo and said, "Hey Neo, what was that stuff you had me drink that helped me light the torch?" The ponies were curious as well, they focused their attention on Neo, Neo said, "It was a bottle of lighter fluid." Spike said, "What's lighter fluid?" Neo said, "It's liquid that makes fires stronger, I knew that if you drank lighter fluid, it would charge up your fire breath and help you light the torch." Spike said, "Thanks a lot dude, I really needed it." Spike hugged Neo's feet and the ponies awed at Spike.

Then 2 crystal ponies passed by Neo and his friends, they saw Neo and smiled, one of the crystal ponies said, "Look, it's the great and honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty." The crystal ponies approached Neo and asked for his autograph, Neo didn't mind at all, he was constantly being asked to sign autographs from various cities across Equestria. While he was signing the autographs, one of the crystal ponies said, "How you saved our Empire last time you were here was really amazing!" Neo said, "Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed my performance at the Equestria Games." The crystal pony said, "Oh you were amazing, you've made this year's Equestria Games the best Equestria Games in the history of Equestria." The other crystal pony said, "And I loved your triumph over your bother during the Mortal Kombat match, that really was amazing." Neo said, "Oh, it was nothing, I just got lucky." Neo gave the crystal ponies their sighed autographs, they thanked him and walked off feeling happy.

Then Twilight said to Neo, "Neo, may I have a word with you for a moment?" Neo and Twilight went over and stood a few feet away from their friends, Neo said, "What is it Twilight?" Twilight said, "I have something I need to tell you, about your Mortal Kombat match." Neo said, "What about it?" Twilight said, "Neo, this might be hard for you to accept, but, I was the reason you won the match." Neo was confused, he said, "What are you talking about?" Twilight said, "When Malachi almost beat you, I cast a spell that helped you win." Neo said, "You did what?" Twilight said, "I'm sorry for doing that to you, I just wanted to help you win." Neo said, "But why?" Twilight said, "I just couldn't stand to see you lose in front of 100's of ponies." She put her hoof under Neo's chin and said, "You understand, don't you?" Neo felt bad, he felt like his brother should have won, to him, Twilight helping him win the match made him feel like he should have been disqualified. Neo said, "I... I need to be alone right now." Neo walked off, feeling heartbroken, Twilight said, "Neo?" Twilight and her friends felt very concerned about Neo, they were worried about what he might do now.

Neo walked down the road going back to the Crystal Palace where he was staying, as he walked down the road, a crystal pony followed him and said, "O Great and Honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty, can I get your autograph?" Neo, feeling no pride for himself replied, "Sorry. You should probably ask somepony special instead." Neo walked off, leaving the crystal pony feeling disappointed. Neo went to see Malachi for a second, he told Malachi that Twilight was the reason for why Neo won the match and Malachi should have won, but Malachi told Neo that he didn't care who won the match, he just wanted to participate in the match for all the ponies. Neo was happy to know that Malachi felt good about himself, but Neo did feel good about himself, instead, he felt disappointed in himself.

Then Neo went back to the Crystal Palace, he went into his room, the bottle of red wine was still in there, Neo poured a glass of red wine and started drinking. Neo sat in his room feeling very disappointed in himself and he drank 3 glasses of red wine. As Neo sat on the couch and drank his wine, an idea came to him, he thought about something that he could to do to make him feel better about himself.

End of chapter 6, chapter 7 coming soon.


	7. Chapter 7 Dancing in the Stadium

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 7

Dancing in the Stadium

It was nighttime in Equestria, everypony was asleep, everypony except Neo, Neo was out of bed, he was about to sneak out of the castle and he was going to go into the stadium. Neo put on his white makeup and some back clothes, he quietly sneaked out of his room and closed the door without making a sound. Neo quietly walked down the hallway where surprisingly there were no guards. He got outside the castle without waking up anypony and he began running towards the stadium.

When Neo got to the stadium, he stopped and looked at it for a second, then he went inside the stadium and came out onto the field. He looked around at the stadium and it was completely empty, he had never seen an empty stadium before and there was not a pony in sight, and that's exactly what he wanted. Then Neo began playing music with his mind and he began dancing around the stadium, ("Unlearn" (Josh Wink's Live Mix) by Psykosonik), Neo danced around the field to the music, doing Mortal Kombat moves, Martial Arts moves, and dances moves like he does in his concerts. Neo made illusions of color and other things like that appear around the field with his mind to make it more fun, after dancing to the song, he played another song and kept on dancing ("Navras" by Juno Reactor).

Neo danced and danced around the field, he even made himself float around the field and he did circus arts. Outside the stadium, you could hear the music but it wasn't loud enough to wake up everypony in the Crystal Empire, however a pony came towards the stadium and she heard the music. It was Twilight and she knew that the music was coming from Neo, so she knew that Neo was in the stadium, she came in the stadium and she saw him dancing out on the field. She watched him dance for a second and even saw him do circus arts, she thought he was amazing she found it impressive.

When Neo finished the song, he stopped dancing and sat down on the ground for a second, then Twilight went over to him, Neo saw her approaching him, he had a feeling that Twilight might come looking for him, she seems to follow him around a lot. She came to him with a concerned look on her face and said, "Neo, what are you doing out this late, is everything alright?" Neo said, "Yes Twilight, everything is fine now." Twilight said, "But what are you doing out here in the stadium?" Neo said, "I came out here to dance, and now was a good time with nopony around to watch me, I'm starting to feel better now." Twilight was happy to know that he was feeling better about himself, she said, "I'm happy to hear that, but we should go back to the castle, you should rest for the night, you have a big day tomorrow, the games will continue tomorrow and I'm sure Princess Cadence is going to want you to perform again." Neo said, "Yeah, you're probably right, I'm done now and I feel better." Twilight said, "Let's go back to the castle."

Neo and Twilight walked off the field and out of the stadium and they began walking back to the castle, as they walked, Neo said to Twilight, "You're a wonderful princess Twilight." Twilight giggled and said, "Why thank you, and as the princess of friendship, it's my duty to look out for the well being of my friends, and I need to see that you get plenty of rest for your big day tomorrow." Neo was happy to know that Twilight cared very much about his well being, she truly was a wonderful friend.

When they got back to the castle, Neo washed off his white makeup, Twilight personally put Neo to bed, gave him a goodnight kiss on his cheek and tucked him in, this was the first time somepony else other than Princess Luna put him to bed and see that he gets some sleep. Twilight wished him a good night and sweet dreams and she said she would see him in the morning, she left the room to let him sleep and Neo slept peacefully for the night, looking forward to the continuation of the Equestria Games tomorrow.

End of chapter 7, chapter 8 coming soon.


	8. Chapter 8 Intoxicated

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 8

Intoxicated

The next day, Neo woke up in a good mood, the Equestria Games were to start in a few minutes, Neo wasn't in a hurry to get to the games since he didn't really have much to do today, so Neo decided to stay in his room for a while and drink a few glasses of red wine.

Meanwhile at the stadium, ponies were taking their seats and were getting ready to watch the games, Neo's friends could hardly wait for the games to begin since Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy would be participating in today's event, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were in a hurry to get to their seats because they didn't want to miss a minute of seeing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's game, their event was called the aerial relay. However when they got to the stadium, security guards were having unicorns go through a security device that was disabling their magic, to prevent cheating, unicorns would not be admitted into the games without disabling their magic. Rarity had no choice but to go through security, so she went through it, the security device disabled her magic, she thought it was unnecessary because she had never cheated in her life, but she had to go through it or she wouldn't be allowed in.

After she went through, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie went into the stadium and they waited for the games to begin. Spike and Chucky were sitting next to them and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on a row below them. Right before the aerial relay was to start, Neo finally came to the stadium, sadly, he felt like he shouldn't perform because he had a little too much to drink. As he came into the stadium, he saw Ms. Harshwhinny, he wanted to ask her if he could do something else instead of perform, so he went up to her and said, "Ms. Harshwhinny? I know you're really busy, but..." she said, "What is it?" Neo said, "I wanted to ask you if I could do something else for the Games. Y'know, something really worthy of the Crystal Empire's admiration?" Ms. Harshwhinny said, "What are you talking about, you performed for the entire games, what else could you possibly want to do?" Neo said, " Uh, well, actually, that wasn't really..." Ms. Harshwhinny cut him off and said, "That wasn't worthy enough for you? Ugh, for pony's sake! Next thing you know, you'll be asking to put on a rock concert." Then she walked off, she snorted and said to herself, "Celebrities." Neo didn't know what he was going to do now, and Ms. Harshwhinny was probably the rudest pony he had ever encountered.

During the aerial relay, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were up against the Wonderbolts, they did their very best but the Wonderbolts won the game, Applejack said that at least they got silver. When the aerial relay was over, Neo came out onto the field, and since he was drunk, he couldn't walk very well out there. Shining Armor approached Neo and said, "Neo, what are you doing?" Neo said, "I have to perform for the winners." Thinking he was going to sing the Cloudsdale anthem, Shining Armor said to the crowd, "And now... um... the Cloudsdale anthem, as sung by... Neo Anderson." Neo said, "Wait, the Cloudsdale anthem?" Shining Armor said to Neo, "They only play the anthem for the winner, Neo! The Wonderbolts are from Cloudsdale!" Neo said, "But... But I don't know the words to the Cloudsdale anthem! I've never even heard it!" Everypony was watching Neo, a crystal pony from the crowd shouted, "Sing for us, O Great and Honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty!" Neo was in a really good mood since he was drunk on red wine, he began playing a song with his mind and he began dancing like a Punk Rocker ("Forgotten Rebel" by The Virus).

Neo danced and danced around the field like a Punk Rocker and sang his Punk Rock song, everypony stared at him in confusion and wondering what he was doing, his friends couldn't believe what he was doing, singing Punk Rock music and acting crazy in front of everypony when he should be singing the Cloudsdale anthem, Twilight facehooved herself, she couldn't believe what Neo was doing, and the princesses were just as surprised. Neo kept singing and dancing like a Punk Rocker, Ms. Harshwhinny saw what Neo was doing and was in complete shock at his behavior, she had never seen anypony act like that, the only pony who liked Neo's song and dancing was Pinkie Pie, nopony realized that Neo was drunk on red wine, and since all the unicorns had their magic disabled, nopony could stop Neo from acting like he was.

When Neo got to the end of the song, he danced out of the stadium, and when Neo finished his song, Neo passed out on the ground outside the stadium. Inside the stadium, everypony was still staring in shock at what had just happened, soon after, Twilight went outside the stadium, she found Neo passed out on the ground, she ordered 2 crystal pony royal guards to take him back to the Crystal Palace, the guards took the unconscious human back to the castle, Twilight was very worried about Neo and wondered what had happened to him out there, she was thinking that Neo should probably stay in his room for the rest of the day until he feels better.

End of chapter 8, chapter 9 coming soon.


	9. Chapter 9 Danger

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 9

Danger

A few hours later, Neo woke up after being passed out from intoxication, when he woke up, the mane 6, Spike, Chucky and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in the room with him. They were happy to see that he was awake now and Neo was now sober, except he had a hangover. The ponies tried to comfort him to help with his hangover, but they wanted to know what had happened with him out on the field a few hours ago. Neo said that he had drank too much red wine earlier and because of that, he was intoxicated, despite that he embarrassed himself in front of everypony and everypony had been shocked by his behavior, the ponies and Spike all gave him a hug and said everything would be alright, they even mentioned that the princesses were not even angry with him at all.

Neo asked them why they were here and not at the games, Twilight said that the games were over for today and there was to be one more game tomorrow along with the closing ceremony, and they were hoping that Neo would come to the final games, the Cutie Mark Crusaders all snuggled against Neo, just trying to make him happy and to show that they love and support him. They were so happy that Neo had performed for the games, to them, Neo had made this year's Equestria Games the best event ever in the history of Equestria. Neo gave each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders a kiss on the head, making each of them blush and they were looking forward to the final games tomorrow along with the closing ceremony.

But the next day, Neo was up, but after what he did the day before at the games, he had decided not to come to the final games, Neo just sat in his room, packing his belongings, since they were going back to Ponyville the next day, he thought he should go ahead and pack his things. The final games were already halfway over and they were about to play the last of the final games just right before the closing ceremony. As he was packing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders came in to see him, Applebloom said to Neo, "Neo, you comin'? Neo looked at them and said, "No, I have to pack my things." They all felt so concerned for him, Scootaloo said, "But you've been moping in here for almost the entire Games." Sweetie Belle said, "And tonight's the closing ceremony!" Neo said, "I know girls, but that means we'll be leaving tomorrow, so I need to pack my things." The Cutie Mark Crusaders, felt disappointed that Neo didn't want to come to the final games, he went over to them and said, "I'm sorry girls, but after that stunt I pulled yesterday at the games, I don't have the nerve to face that crowd anymore, but I want you to enjoy the games without me." The Cutie Mark Crusaders all gave Neo hugs and snuggles, even though Neo didn't want to come to the final games, they still loved him very much and they were happy that he had performed for the opening ceremony and the first day of the games, Neo gave them a kiss on their heads and told them to have fun, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders left to go watch the rest of the games.

Meanwhile at the final games, they were about to play their final game, which was Ice Archery, Shining Armor said to the crowd, "And so the Games conclude as they always do, with the ice archery finals! Ice archers, take your places!" The crowd cheered, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike and Chucky were in their seats, getting ready to watch the final game, Applejack said, "Too bad Ponyville doesn't have any ice archers competin'. We don't have anyone to root for." Pinkie Pie said, "That's okay. Ponyville has thirty seven medals, and Cloudsdale thirty six, so looks like we'll be medal champs of the Games anyway! Woo-hoo!" Rainbow Dash said, "But Cloudsdale has two ice archery finalists down there now! If they both place, Cloudsdale wins the medal count!" Pinkie Pie said, "So you're saying that it all comes down to this one event?!" Applejack said, "Pretty much." Pinkie Pie got so excited, she jumped up and down shouting, "Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh!" Pinkie Pie was shouting so loud, you could hear her from the field.

Twilight came down the rows, looking for Neo, Pinkie Pie saw her and said, "Twilight! Come take this extra seat next to me and freak out over the medal count! I'll show you how: Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh!" Twilight said, "Actually, I was looking for Neo. Have you seen him?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on the row right next to where Twilight was, Applebloom said to her, "He wouldn't come." Sweetie Belle said, "We tried to talk him into it." Scootaloo said, "But he just wouldn't listen." Twilight was surprised that Neo didn't come, and she wasn't going to stand for that, Pinkie Pie said, "You can have his extra seat, though. Uh... Twi?" Pinkie Pie saw that Twilight was gone, she was going to get Neo to come out there whether he wants to or not.

Meanwhile back at the Crystal Palace, Neo was sitting on his couch, smoking a cigarette, Neo was feeling very depressed about his actions yesterday and he still had a hangover, suddenly, Neo heard Twilight say, "Neo, you here?" Neo got scared for a second, he saw Twilight come in, she saw him smoking and she gave him a serious look, Neo kept packing his things and he said, "What do you want Twilight, can't you see I'm packing?" Twilight said, "No more hiding out Neo. You're coming with me. Now." And she sounded very demanding, she was going to make Neo come with her whether he wanted to or not, Neo said, "Why, so the crowd can throw beer bottles and vegetables at me, no thank you." Twilight's horn glowed and she started to make Neo float out of the room, then she said, "You don't have a choice Neo, you're coming with me if I have to float you to the games, and as princess, I order you to come with me." Neo said, "Fine, fine, you win, but I'm wearing this." Neo put on his white hockey mask, Twilight thought that was immature, but she wanted to get Neo to come with her without forcing him, so she let him wear the mask, and she knew that Neo wasn't himself right now, he was just upset because of what's been happening lately, then Neo followed Twilight out of his room and she took him to the stadium.

Meanwhile back at the games, everypony was watching the Ice Archery competition, Neo's friends were watching every second of the game, Rainbow Dash said, "Those aren't your average arrows. They freeze whatever part of the target they hit. Whoever encases their entire target in ice first wins. Keep your eye on number seven from Cloudsdale – he's the favorite." As Twilight and Neo were entering the stadium, Twilight said to Neo, "Honestly Neo, I don't see why you're being so hard on yourself." Neo said in a shameful voice, "I let everypony down, twice, first I let them down by winning the Mortal Kombat challenge when you helped me win when my brother should have won and I let them down again when I acted crazy in front of everypony when I was drunk, you never let anypony down, so you don't have any idea what that's like." Twilight said, "Are you kidding? I've totally let ponies down. That's not the point. You performed for the games, you and your bother put on a good challenge for everypony, the aerial relay teams got their medals, no harm, no foul." Neo knew that Twilight was just trying to make him feel better, but Neo didn't have the nerve to come out to the field for everypony to see him, he said, "I'd rather stay in here for right now, I'm not ready to face the crowds in the stand just yet."

The Ice Archery players kept playing the game, one of the ponies from Cloudsdale was so close to winning, another pony really wanted to beat him, the pony tried to shoot a different way to make a good shot, but the pony accidentally tripped and shot his ice arrow into a cloud, after the arrow hit the cloud, the cloud turned into a large mass of ice. Now that the cloud had become an icy cloud, it had become extremely heavy and it began coming down towards the stadium.

Everypony looked up in horror as the huge ice cloud hurdled towards the field, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence were really scared about what would happen if that icy cloud hits the stadium, various pegasus ponies including Rainbow Dash flew up to the cloud and tried to stop it from hitting the stadium, Rainbow Dash shouted, "Steer it towards the field, away from the crowds!" Shining Armor said to a security guard, "Somepony cut the disabling spell!" But the guard said there wasn't any time, since the security guards had disabled the magic from all the unicorns in the stadium, there wasn't time to restore it to them, so nopony had any magic to slow down the cloud. Twilight was very worried, she backed away from the cloud that was heading towards the field, even she couldn't stop the cloud.

Neo saw what was happening, thinking fast, Neo took off his mask, he flew up towards the icy cloud, he stood on the cloud and began playing Heavy Metal music with his mind ("Bash Brains" by Ralph Rieckermann), Neo sang and danced on the cloud, and he was playing his music incredibly loud. The music was so loud, it hurt everypony's ears, but the loud noise from the music caused the icy cloud to crack, eventually, the icy cloud exploded with only small pieces of ice falling down onto the field, the ice melted in the field and Neo flew back down to the field.

Pleased by his heroic actions, everypony cheered for Neo, the princesses were so proud of him, especially Princess Cadence, Twilight was cheering for Neo the loudest along with Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike and Chucky from the crowd, everypony saw Neo as a hero once again and now you know why everypony calls him "Great and Honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty."

End of chapter 9, chapter 10 coming soon.


	10. Chapter 10 Proud of Yourself

My Little Pony: Pride in Yourself

Chapter 10

Proud of Yourself

Neo had just saved everypony in the stadium when a huge icy cloud hurdled towards the stadium, he played Heavy Metal music that was incredibly loud, and the loud music destroyed the cloud. Everypony was cheering for the human boy that had saved them once again from disaster, especially his friends, the mane 6, Spike and Chucky. Neo's friends went to go see Neo to tell him awesome they thought he was when he saved everypony. Neo had went behind the targets that the archers had been shooting their icy arrows at during the games, as he went behind the targets, he danced and sang a Punk Rock song that he think described how he was feeling about himself at the moment ("Say Anything" by The Bouncing Souls).

He danced like a Punk Rocker as he sang his song, his friends heard his music and they came to see him behind the targets. They watched him sing and dance, and when Neo finished his song, the mane 6, Spike and Chucky surprised him, the ponies and Spike said, "That was awesome." They were referring to how Neo saved everypony, Neo was surprised to see his friends, they were all smiling at him and they were all very proud of him. Then Neo felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, Neo looked behind him and saw that it was Princess Cadence. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were with her as well and they were all smiling at him. Princess Cadence said to Neo, "I just wanted to thank you personally for saving those ponies and the Games, O Great and Honorable Neo the Brave and Mighty. You must be very proud." She was so proud of him, she actually bowed at him, but sadly Neo didn't feel proud of himself, he looked down and said, "No, not really." Neo's friends and the princesses all said, "Not really?!" They were so surprised that he didn't feel proud of himself, then Neo said, "I just saw what needed to be done and reacted. Just so happens I can play my music loud enough to break ice and... if any of you could do that, you'd have done the same."

Neo's friends and the princesses didn't understand what Neo was saying, the princesses were concerned, and the mane 6, Spike and Chucky just didn't understand why Neo felt the way he felt. Applejack approached Neo and said, "Forgive me for bein' blunt, Neo, but you're not makin' a lick of sense." Neo said, "Can't explain it any better than that." Then Twilight approached Neo and said, "Wait a second. I think I get it. You keep saying you let everypony down, but we all keep saying you didn't. You know who's disappointed in you, Neo? You are, you're disappointed in yourself. And only you can make it right with you again. What would that take, Neo?" Neo sighed and said, "I really don't know, I kind of wish I could turn back time and redo that match with my brother." Princess Cadence said to Neo, "We can't turn back time, but, would you do me the great honor of performing music in my place at the closing ceremonies tonight?" Twilight said, " Come on, Neo. You saved the Crystal Empire twice! I think you can perform some music." Neo thought for a second, he looked at his friends and the princesses, they were all smiling at him, hoping that he would say yes, Princess Luna even winked at him as a way of saying to do it for her, she was proud of him no matter how he felt. Finally Neo said, "I guess I can, maybe I should at least give it a try."

The ponies and Spike cheered for Neo and the princesses all smiled sweetly at him, they were all very proud of him and thanks to their encouragement, he was finally feeling proud of himself as well. Each of the princesses gave Neo a kiss on the cheek, Princess Cadence's kiss was as a thank you for saving the ponies, Princess Celestia's kiss was to show him how proud she was of him and that he will always be her sweet little boy, and Princess Luna's kiss was for pride, gratitude and how much she loved him, Neo blushed after each kiss, he couldn't believe that he had been kissed by all 3 princesses, and it was the most wonderful thing he ever experienced. The ponies gossiped to each other about his blushing, but that was normal girly talk. Then the ponies and Spike all gave Neo a group hug and told him that they all loved him very much, which the princesses thought was very sweet and they awed at the sweet moment.

Later after Princess Celestia had set the sun and Princess Luna had raised the moon, it was finally time for the closing ceremony of the games. The mane 6 were sitting in their seats, waiting for Neo to appear, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on the row under them. While they were waiting, Pinkie Pie said, "We did it! Ponyville won the medal count, and only by one medal!" Rainbow Dash said, "Hmm, wonder which medal that was? Bam!" Applejack said to Applebloom, "How does it feel to have opened the best Equestria Games in Ponyville history, squirt?" Applebloom said, "Probably as good as it feels to close them!" Then a group of Royal guards began marching across the field to begin the closing ceremony, after they marched across the field, one of the guards blew a horn for a second, then suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared in the center of the field, when the smoke cleared, Neo was standing in the center of the field, wearing all black, white makeup and a long black wig, everypony clapped when he appeared and the mane 6 clapped the loudest, Pinkie Pie cheered with joy for Neo along with Rainbow Dash.

Then Neo performed a song with his mind and he began dancing to his song ("Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon" by Marylin Manson), everypony watched as Neo sang and danced in the field for them, even though the song was strange and had a lot of profanity, they all loved his performance. The Cutie Mark Crusaders moved their heads to the melody of the song and they were really enjoying Neo's performance, the princesses watched Neo perform and they were enjoying his performance most of all, especially Princess Luna, she couldn't stop smiling as she watched him, she thought his performance was wonderful despite the strangeness of the song and the profanity, but she was very happy to be in love with a talented young boy like Neo. Ms. Harshwhinny was watching Neo's performance from inside the stadium, she was happy that Neo had saved everypony from disaster, but she still thought he was a very strange kid, she said, "Well I was right, he got to put on a rock concert after all." And she shook her head.

Neo danced all through his song in strange ways like a Heavy Metal performer would, when Neo finished the song, Neo gave a signal across the field, Spike and Chucky were over in the right side of the field with fireworks. Neo was giving them the signal to launch them, Chucky set them up and Spike lit the fireworks, and right when Neo's song ended, the fireworks were launched and they exploded into the sky. Everypony watched the fireworks with joy and everypony clapped and cheered for Neo, and the mane 6 cheered the loudest for Neo, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash shouted and cheered as loud as they could for Neo, and the closing ceremony was a complete success. Neo had finally found pride in himself and from now on, he wanted to take pride in everything he did, his friends helped him find that pride in himself, and that is true friendship.

End of chapter 10. The End.


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